Conference Expansion: That's No Moon

I am about to head out to Chicago so of course this is breaking today: ninjas have descended upon the Big 12 meetings and are busy abducting various members of the Big 12. The Columbus Dispatch continues to use the FOIA for interesting things by getting this email from Gordon Gee that seems to confirm that all the lurid fantasies Big Ten fans have issued about Texas, Texas A&M, and all the other crazy proposals are true:

"I did speak with Bill Powers at Texas, who would welcome a call to say they have a 'Tech' problem," Gee wrote in an e-mail that was among several obtained by The Dispatch through a public-records request for documents and correspondence related to Big Ten expansion proposals.

I hate to say it but Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Colorado to the Pac 10 probably makes better sense geographically but it sure would be cool to have Texas in the Big 10. Missouri, Pitt, Rutgers etc. just don't get me too excited

talking with some of my Big12 friends (most CU fans). They're saying that the rumor is that OU, OSU, Texas, TT, A&M, and CU would be put into one division with the two Arizona schools, so travel wouldn't radically change if this was the plan. They're suggesing this alignment is much more about better television contracts for the potential combined entity and a lot of the traditional conference match ups wouldn't get too upended. I guess you would play one or two schools in the other division per year in that scenario to get an 8th or 9th conference game? Not sure if SuperPAC10 would go to 4 OOC game schedule like other conferences or keep status quo.

but basketball wise these teams would probably be making a few trips way out west to play each season. If it's a night game, the players wouldn't be getting back to their beds till the wee hours of the night.

there have to be some tight sphincters in places like iowa state, baylor, and south florida these days. if this turns into four 16-team power conferences, a handful of BCS auto-qualifer conference schools will get left out just because the numbers work out that way.

Was thinking about that last night. The two schools that came to my mind were Iowa St and Kansas St. With the Big 12 probably dissolving in the next few years, these two schools might be headed to a 'mid-major' conference. Can you say 'Hello Mountain West Conference'.

How much discusssion do you think goes on between the conferences about who gets who? I don't see the Big10 and say the SEC talking but the Pac10 and the Big10 are friendly. Do you think that the commisioners are discussing any of this between themselves, and if so how much?

I don't know if any of you read the Ohio State online newsletter, but he has some pretty interesting things to say about World Cup soccer:

Editor: "I've got to say I am at my limit with soccer fans. Soccer is essentially a third-world sport. Frankly, I find the game Rambo plays in First Blood 3 - where he rides a horse in an attempt to carry a goat around a field, only to be dropped in a dirt circle - more exciting than soccer...Even in this day and age of global recession, people in the U.S. love their sports and will only support soccer if they find a way to open it up offensively. Until soccer comes around with more scoring, its fans will consist of transplanted non-Americans and soccer moms."

Racism, sexism, you name it. That's a pretty attractive package that guy's got going for him. And baldness too! :)